Expanding My Business Beyond Beyond Startups and Storytelling

After a couple of years in business, I moved into startup marketing from social media. I was being approached by startups looking for more marketing services from me. It was a more interesting proposition than telling companies how to post on Twitter and Facebook!

Built on my experience as a journalist, entrepreneur and consulting with dozens of clients, the book gives entrepreneurs insight into the value of storytelling and how to integrate it into marketing activities.

Now, I’m excited about broadening the scope of my business beyond startups and storytelling.

The “new approach” shines the spotlight on the broader marketing services that I deliver to clients, who now range from startups to well-established companies.

While they have different needs, the common denominator is they require marketing insight and expertise to accelerate their growth.

Both have varying degrees of marketing capabilities and both need someone with experience to show them the way forward and help them with tactical execution.

While startups want to create a marketing foundation or jump-start their marketing, larger businesses are looking for strategic guidance and tactical execution.

So, let’s start with my new value proposition: “I help fast-growing companies grow even faster by creating marketing that makes an impact”.

The positioning highlights the nature of my clients and their needs. The “makes an impact” reflects how my consulting is focused on the needs of a client’s customers so their marketing generates results – awareness, leads, and sales.

Customer discovery: Many companies need to do a better job of knowing their customers’ needs, interests, and motivations. Their marketing must be customer-centric and answer “What’s in it for me?” in ways that engage, educate and entertain.

Messaging and brand positioning: Having clear and well-articulated messaging about what you do, who you serve and why it matters is super important. I work with companies scrambling to tell better stories because their marketing isn’t resonating. It’s everything from value propositions and boilerplates to benefits, taglines, and elevator pitches.

Marketing strategy: A strategy tells you where you need to go, what you’re going to do and who’s going to do it. Too many brands take a “throw spaghetti at the wall” approach to marketing. Their marketing is unfocused and often a waste of time and resources. I deliver roadmaps for success driven by methodologies and frameworks.

Content marketing strategy: As a storytelling and ex-journalist, I understand the value of content. At the same, companies need to create content with a purpose that meets the interests of consumers. Too many companies don’t have a well-defined plan to create content that resonates.

Tactical execution: At the end of the day, companies need to get stuff done (aka tactical execution). My services include Website overhauls, eBooks, blog posts, sales sheets, brochures presentations, videos, infographics and more. It’s marketing and sales that get people into and through the funnel.

Optimization: Marketing is a mix of ideas, experiments, and creativity. As a result, marketing must be continually monitored, measured and improved. I drill into a company’s marketing, dashboards, data, and analytics to see how channels, content, and campaigns can be tweaked or refreshed to make their more effective.

On the other side of the house, I offer a “CMO for Hire” service, which serves three needs:

Operate: You don’t have a marketing team so you need someone to handle strategy and tactical execution. I deliver marketing content and collateral that engages and educates prospects and customers.

Build: With a well-defined marketing roadmap, we identify the right people needed to create a high-performance marketing team. Then, I work with your people to get them up to speed and tactically executing.

Lead: You have a marketing team but need an experienced marketer to guide, brainstorm and work with them. It gives you the confidence your people are well managed so that marketing really performs.

Coach: I work with entrepreneurs and marketing teams to ensure marketing is dialed in, you’re focused on the most effective channels and have people with the right skills to successfully execute.

In some ways, I’m pulling back the covers on the “new and improved ” ME Consulting. At the same time, I’m delivering the same services but crafted a refreshed story to better communicate what I do and the value delivered.

If you’re a fast-growing company interested in learning more, send me an email – mark@markevans.ca.

About Mark Evans

I help fast-growing companies grow even faster by creating marketing that actually works. Learn more about my services.